Event

4th Luxembourg FinTech Conference

  • Location

    Banque Internationale à Luxembourg

    69, route d'Esch

    2953, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

  • Topic(s)
    Finance, Law
  • Type(s)
    Conferences, Free of charge, In-person event

Abstract:

The conference on Fintech Law and Regulation aims to bring together practitioners from financial institutions, legal professionals and consultants as well as high-profile regulators and worldwide known academics in the FinTech and innovation field to jointly consider the impact of technology on financial institutions and their regulation.

Technology is transforming finance around the world at an unprecedented rate, offering new opportunities but also raising new risks. Financial regulators must develop new approaches to regulation, including through the use of technology. Prior to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, financial innovation was generally viewed very positively. Post-Crisis financial regulatory reforms have seen a reversal of this approach with the regulatory pendulum arguably swinging to the other extreme. Post-Crisis regulatory changes combined with increasingly rapid technological change have spurred the development of financial technology (“FinTech”). FinTech promises innovation and economic growth through disruption of traditional financial services businesses, yet it also poses a major challenge to the post-Crisis regulatory paradigm.

FinTech embraces new startups, established technological and e-commerce companies (which is referred to as “TechFins”) as well as incumbent financial firms. Financial regulators are increasingly seeking to balance the traditional regulatory objectives of financial stability and consumer protection with the objectives of growth and innovation, resulting in a process of regulatory innovation including the use of technology (“RegTech”) and changes to existing regulatory frameworks such as the establishment of regulatory sandboxes (safe havens in which firms test innovative technologies under regulatory exemptions).

The FinTech Law and Regulation conference organized by the ADA Chair in Financial Law / Inclusive Finance at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance in cooperation with Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) and the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHOFT) addresses these regulatory issues. Bringing together the most eminent FinTech regulators – including from institutions such as the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA) and the Luxembourg CSSF – with the most widely considered FinTech law and regulation scholars to date provides the background for a fruitful conference discussing the status quo of the law as well as the foreseeable regulatory developments in light of the enhanced tech dependency of financial institutions.

Programme

  • 08.30 – 09.00

    Welcome

    • Luc Frieden, Chairman of the Board, BIL
    • Prof. Katalin Ligeti, University of Luxembourg, Dean, Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance
    • Nasir Zubari, CEO, LHoFT

  • 09.00 – 10.30

    Fintech as a Game Changer for Law and Regulation

    Discussants:

    • The CSSF’s Approach to Innovation, Karen O’Sullivan, Head of Innovation, CSSF
    • How FinTech shapes Legal Thinking and Education, Prof. Erik Vermeulen, University of Tilburg (NL)
    • Open Law, Prof. Aaron Wright, Cardozo Law School (NYC, US)

  • 10.30 – 10.50

    Coffee break

  • 10.50 – 12.50

    Cryptocurrencies and Cryptoassets

    Discussants:

    • Crypto-currencies: views from both sides of the Atlantic, George Frost, crypto-lawyer, Berkeley, Cal. (US) & Prof. Jean-Louis Schiltz, University of Luxembourg
    • ESMA’s Approach to ICOs and Crypto-Assets, Patrick Armstrong, European Securities & Markets Authority
    • ICOs and Regulation, Emilie Allaert, The LHoFT Foundation, Luxembourg
    • Empirical analysis of the ICO market, Prof. Dirk Zetzsche & Emilija Pashoska, University of Luxembourg

  • 12.50 – 13.50

    Lunch break

  • 13.50 – 14.20

    Crowdfunding & Crowdlending

    Discussants:

    • The EU Com’s draft regulation and The Regulation of Crowdfunding, Prof. Luca Enriques, University of Oxford (UK)
    • Managing the risks of equity crowdfunding: Lessons from China, Prof. Lin Lin, NUS (Singapore)
    • Investments into Peer-to-Peer-Platforms: the Business Case and Regulatory Challenges, Markus Wagner, CEO, 1741 Fund Management, Vaduz (Liechtenstein)

  • 14.20 – 14.40

    Coffee break

  • 14.40 – 16.10

    Fintech, Fund & Asset Management

    Discussants:

    • Funds, FinTech and Innovation, Prof. William Birdthistle, University of Chicago (visiting)
    • Robo Advisors, Prof. Isabelle Riassetto, University of Luxembourg
    • FinTech for Mid-Size Banks: challenges & opportunities, Nathalie Knops, Head of Business Transformation, BIL

  • 16.10 – 17.10

    Fintech & Systemic Risk

    Discussants:

    • FinTech & Systemic Risk: The impacts and uses of artificial intelligence, machine learning, RegTech and SupTechs, Laurence White, Financial Stability Board
    • How do banks interact with FinTechs, Prof. Lars Hornuf, University of Bremen

  • 17.10 – 17.30

    Closing remarks

    Dirk Zetzsche, Uni.lu

Presentations from the conference:

Partners:

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